Philips CDI 220 Mini MMC 60Hz Modification and TimeKeeper Replacement

Recently I found a CDI 220/00 with Mini MMC mainboard. It’s a heavy and bulky unit that contains lot of PCBs, wires, screws and metal parts. It’s one of the first consumer CD-i players, later models have all components on one single mainboard (Mono).

CDI220/00 inside

Doing a 60 Hz modification is very easy, just move the solder blob from PAL to NTSC. Or install a switch at the NTSC, middle and PAL points.

Mini MMC PAL/NTSC

However, replacing the TimeKeeper chip is rather complicated as you have to disassemble half of unit to reach the mainboard.Note: All screws are Torqx T8.

First remove 5 screws with washers to open the top case, then the back bezel (3 screws) and DVC door.

CDI220/00 back

Slide out the DVC base und the two plastic guides at each side.

A close-up view of the PCB that holds the DVC:

At the back of this PCB is the working area, PAL/NTSC on the left and TimeKeeper chip on the right (and some dust). Don’t bother unscrewing the PCB, just unscrew the piece of metal (2 screws) and put the whole thing over to the CD side.

Now it’s time to lift the mainboard (3 screws):

Mini MMC mainboardMini MMC mainboard

Remove the TimeKeeper chip from the marked area.

Mini MMC mainboard back

This is the mainboard back in place. The solder blob has been temporarily moved from PAL to NTSC to test the image stability and a socket with a new NVRAM chip (DS1643, more reliable) has been installed.